It all started so innocently. We met as strangers, thrown together by fate. Some
of you grew up with me, others I have only known a short while. Some of you I
have hugged constantly over the years, and others I met at a time when hugging
was ‘un-cool’, and it has stayed that way, though the times have changed around
us. Some of you I have not yet met in person. Every one of you has enriched my
life. You have helped to teach me, to guide me on this often turning and forking
road of life. You have been with me through the good times and the bad. You
have comforted me when I cried, held me when I was afraid, and laughed with
me when I was happy. And now we are in college. And though the distance
between us is not great, it is great enough. I am no longer afraid to reach out and
hug you, in fact I long to do it. You had walked with me for so long that I was
afraid to venture on alone. Yet even as I feared the dark of night, along came
others to help me on my journey, in hopes that I would walk with them so they
need not journey on alone. They picked up where you left off, and now they are
no longer strangers.

Who are you? You might be my brother, my sister, my cousin, an old
aquaintance or a new one. But first and foremost, I call you friend. And I miss
you if you are away, and if you are here, then I thank you for standing by my
side.

And so I send you this, so that you might know that someone, somewhere, is
thinking of you, praying for you, and loving you. And that person is me. May
God grant you peace and happiness in your times of trail, and watch over you,
so that one day we will meet again.

Friendship is a strange thing….we find ourselves telling each other the deepest
details of our lives…things we don’t even share with our families who raised
us…But what is a friend? A confidant? A lover? A fellow email junkie? A
shoulder to cry on? an ear to listen? a heart to feel?…A friend is all these
things…and more.

….Whether we met IRC, over The World, over Resort, or SE, or anywhere…I
call you friend. A word so small…yet so large in feeling…a word filled with
emotion. It is true great things come in small packages. Once the package of
friendship has been opened, it can never be closed…it is a constant book always
written…waiting to be read…and enjoyed.

We may have our disagreements…we may argue…we may concern one
another…friendship is a unique bond that lasts through it all…. ………A part of
me is put into my friends…some it is my humor…some it is my listening
ear…some it is real life experiences…some it is my romanticism…but with all, it
is friendship

………………..Friendships forged are a construct stronger than steel…built as a
foundation….necessary for life…and necessary for love.Friends…you and
me…..you brought another friend…and then there were 3…….we started our
group….Our circle of friends……..and like that circle…there is no beginning or
end…. …………………………………………………………………..